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Call for Papers:
Navigating the AI Revolution

Art, Creativity, and Human Agency in the Age of Generative Intelligence

DREAM Center Symposium | SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Overview

We are witnessing a profound sociotechnical transformation comparable to the shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, but perhaps even more fundamental. Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, large language models have experienced unprecedented adoption, with ChatGPT alone reaching 100 million users within two months and surging to 700 million weekly active users by 2025, while over half of U.S. adults now report using LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot (Warren, 2025; Elon University, 2025). The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) is not merely introducing new tools; it is reshaping how we create, think, learn, and relate to knowledge itself. In doing so, it is giving rise to new emergent ontologies—novel ways of understanding, organizing, and valuing human and machine knowledge. We are moving from an era of digital consumption and production to one of human-AI collaboration and co-creation.

This transformation challenges established frameworks of creativity and authorship (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Zhou & Lee, 2024), disrupts traditional educational paradigms (Walter, 2024; Almasri, 2024), and raises fundamental questions about human agency in creative processes (Doshi & Hauser, 2024; Edgell, 2024). Recent research demonstrates that while AI enhances individual creativity, it may paradoxically reduce the collective diversity of creative output, highlighting the complex dynamics of human-AI collaboration in cultural production (Baas, 2024; Doshi & Hauser, 2024).

Against this backdrop, the Center for Design, Interdisciplinary Research, Engineering, Art, and Media (DREAM Center) at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, an interdisciplinary hub integrating art, design, engineering, and the humanities, will host a symposium in April 2026 to explore these issues. Generative AI and LLMs provide a case study for how society responds to new technologies as both creators and educators.

The Questions That Define Our Moment

On Creativity and Authorship

What happens to human creativity when machines can generate art, write prose, and compose music (Baas, 2024)? How do we redefine originality, authenticity, and artistic voice in collaborative human-AI partnerships? Research suggests complex dynamics where AI tools enhance individual creative output but may homogenize collective creative diversity (Doshi & Hauser, 2024).

On Education and Knowledge

How do we prepare learners for a world where information synthesis is automated but critical thinking becomes more essential than ever (Walter, 2024)? What does it mean to “know” something when AI can access and process vast knowledge instantaneously? How do we cultivate onto-epistemic reflexivity, the capacity to critically examine both what we know and how we come to know it, in AI-integrated interdisciplinary inquiry? Educational institutions worldwide are grappling with integrating AI literacy while preserving pedagogical integrity, as emergent ontologies reshape the very foundations of knowledge creation and research practice.

On Society and Power

Who benefits from AI's creative and intellectual capabilities? How do we ensure these technologies democratize rather than concentrate creative and economic power (Amankwah-Amoah et al., 2024)? What new forms of digital divide are emerging as AI becomes integral to creative and professional practices?

On Human Agency

As AI systems become more sophisticated collaborators, how do we maintain and cultivate distinctly human capacities encompassing intuition, embodied knowledge, emotional intelligence, and ethical reasoning (Atkinson & Barker, 2023)? What remains uniquely human in an age of artificial creativity?

Focus & Scope

We invite abstracts for papers, presentations, performances, and creative works, with the potential for inclusion in a special edited book exploring the intersection of art, technology, and society. This volume will examine the role of the arts in the 21st century, particularly in education and public life, as new technologies become integrated into cultural norms.

We are especially interested in topics explored across any of the three core domains of academia: research, teaching, or service, including but not limited to:

Additional Thematic Lenses

Formats Welcome

Submission Guidelines

Join the Conversation

This symposium is more than an academic gathering—it’s a chance to shape the cultural narrative around AI. We invite submissions from all disciplines, backgrounds, and cultures, and especially encourage underrepresented voices to contribute. Together, we can move beyond “How will AI change us?” to “How do we want to change with AI?”

Submit abstracts through our registration form.

Questions: Contact the DREAM Center director, Ana Jofre, jofrea@sunypoly.edu

References

  1. Almasri, F. (2024). Exploring the impact of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning of science: A systematic review of empirical research. Research in Science Education, 54(5), 977–997. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-024-10176-3
  2. Amankwah-Amoah, J., Abdalla, S., Mogaji, E., Elbanna, A., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2024). The impending disruption of creative industries by generative AI: Opportunities, challenges, and research agenda. International Journal of Information Management, 79, 102759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2024.102759
  3. Atkinson, P., & Barker, R. (2023). AI and the social construction of creativity. Convergence, 29(4), 1023–1041. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231187730
  4. Baas, M. (2024). Artificial intelligence and the question of creativity: Art, data and the sociocultural archive of AI-imaginations. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 27(4), 788–795. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241246640
  5. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. Harper Collins.
  6. Doshi, A. R., & Hauser, O. P. (2024). Generative AI enhances individual creativity but reduces the collective diversity of novel content. Science Advances, 10(28), eadn5290. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn5290
  7. Edgell, R. A. (2024). A monstrous matter: The three faces of artificial creativity. Journal of Creativity, 34(1), 100075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2024.100075
  8. Edgell, R. A., & Lee, D. (2023). Theorizing creative challenges: Why are social creativity and reimagined universities necessary for tackling society's problems? Journal of Creativity, 33(2), 100051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2023.100051
  9. Elon University. (2025, March 12). Survey: 52% of U.S. adults now use AI large language models like ChatGPT. https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2025/03/12/survey-52-of-u-s-adults-now-use-ai-large-language-models-like-chatgpt
  10. Jiang, H. H., Brown, et al. (2023, August). AI Art and its Impact on Artists. In Proceedings of the 2023 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (pp. 363-374). https://doi.org/10.1145/3600211.360468
  11. Mariyono, D., & Hd, A. N. A. (2025). AI’s role in transforming learning environments: A review of collaborative approaches and innovations. Quality Education for All, 2(1), 265–288. https://doi.org/10.1108/QEA-08-2024-0071
  12. Walter, Y. (2024). Embracing the future of artificial intelligence in the classroom: The relevance of AI literacy, prompt engineering, and critical thinking in modern education. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00448-3
  13. Warren, T. (2025, August 9). "Unstoppable?" ChatGPT surges to 700 million weekly users as rivals race to compete. Windows Central. https://www.windowscentral.com/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-is-set-to-hit-700-million-weekly-users-but-can-its-rivals-catch-up
  14. Zhou, E., & Lee, D. (2024). Generative artificial intelligence, human creativity, and art. PNAS Nexus, 3(3), pgae052. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae052

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